Origins of the Revolution-
(cool interactive map like the one Baldwin gave us on religion...its the revolutions over a 200 year period that began with the American Revolution...seems we were an inspiration...revolution map)
-Easy answer- King Louis and Marie Antoinette were incompetent (but we don't like easy answers, do we?)
-Writings of Enlightenment intellectuals provided a foundation for revolutionary ideas
-Sensational lawsuits centered on the scandalous doings of high aristocrats- intensified the people's resentment
-French society was changing (we talked about this in class) Land was no longer the only source of wealth. People could become merchants...So, a new wealthy class of merchants who were trying to buy noble titles to earn tax exceptions and social status developed. France had never delt with this before, and the old social structure (which had other problems as well) didn't really have a place for them...leads to revolution.
-The Monarchy was in finantial trouble (which was partially the result of a trend started by Louis XIV and Versailles, and expensive foreign wars) This caused big problems. Louis XVI couldn't tax the nobles, because he depended on them for authority, and they would consider a development like this horribly unfair since they had never been taxed before, but he couldn't get any money from taxing the poor (who had no money) either. So, what could he do?
-He went through some finance ministers: Turgot (who wanted to encourage economic growth through nonintervention-laissez-faire. He also wanted to remove restrictions on commerce in grain, abolish guiolds, cut down on expenses at court, etc...) But, people at court turned against him, so Louis dismissed him. The next one was Jacques Necker who avoided the problems (and new taxes) and floated a series of loans at large interest rates. However, by the 1780s, royal finances were REALLY in trouble.
Here's what we talked about in class (kind of):
For the first time, there was a fair amount of wealth not in the hands of the aristocracy
1785-1789=four disasterous harvests in a row (made everything worse)
(cool interactive map like the one Baldwin gave us on religion...its the revolutions over a 200 year period that began with the American Revolution...seems we were an inspiration...revolution map)
-Easy answer- King Louis and Marie Antoinette were incompetent (but we don't like easy answers, do we?)
-Writings of Enlightenment intellectuals provided a foundation for revolutionary ideas
-Sensational lawsuits centered on the scandalous doings of high aristocrats- intensified the people's resentment
-French society was changing (we talked about this in class) Land was no longer the only source of wealth. People could become merchants...So, a new wealthy class of merchants who were trying to buy noble titles to earn tax exceptions and social status developed. France had never delt with this before, and the old social structure (which had other problems as well) didn't really have a place for them...leads to revolution.
-The Monarchy was in finantial trouble (which was partially the result of a trend started by Louis XIV and Versailles, and expensive foreign wars) This caused big problems. Louis XVI couldn't tax the nobles, because he depended on them for authority, and they would consider a development like this horribly unfair since they had never been taxed before, but he couldn't get any money from taxing the poor (who had no money) either. So, what could he do?
-He went through some finance ministers: Turgot (who wanted to encourage economic growth through nonintervention-laissez-faire. He also wanted to remove restrictions on commerce in grain, abolish guiolds, cut down on expenses at court, etc...) But, people at court turned against him, so Louis dismissed him. The next one was Jacques Necker who avoided the problems (and new taxes) and floated a series of loans at large interest rates. However, by the 1780s, royal finances were REALLY in trouble.
Here's what we talked about in class (kind of):
For the first time, there was a fair amount of wealth not in the hands of the aristocracy
1785-1789=four disasterous harvests in a row (made everything worse)
The French Revolution was characterized by frequent changes in leadership. Here's what happened when different ruling bodies were in power:
National Assembly
Legislative Assembly
The National Convention